PHALANX - The series

Episode 13: Pressed for time.

 

The Ortega came out of the wormhole near Earth prime.

"Great! It works perfectly!" Jennifer exclaimed.

The three humans and the sentient hologram cheered. This glorious occasion was celebrated, and although Linda didn't require food, she still joined in the party. The four held a feast, with all the food, drink and dance they wanted.

 

The next day, Jennifer, Frederic and Daphnix were on the bridge. Linda had reverted back to her bodiless state, inside the Ortega main computer. Jennifer was scanning the different universes, while Daphnix and Frederic held a game of mental chess. They did that often when there was nothing major to keep them occupied. Daphnix said that Frederic was improving in quantum leaps, although he still didn't stand a chance. Mental chess was a game they had developed during the long hours on the bridge when there was nothing to do. It was based on normal chess, but it was three-dimensional, and the board only existed in their minds.

"Guys, snap out of it," Jennifer said. This was the trigger phrase to break their immense concentration.

"What is it, love?" Frederic asked, looking at his wife.

"Universe 122 has been having a lot of temporal disturbances lately. It is too inefficient to come from a QDD, so I don't think Zells is in on it."

"If not Zells, then who? And why? Time-travel is not something you do lightly," Daphnix said.

"Then why not find out?" Frederic asked. "Jenny, set a course to universe 122."

"Sure thing, love." She started tapping her console. Daphnix started tapping as well.

"What have you got, D?" Frederic asked.

"Temporal shielding. I don't want to get caught up if the timeline changes."

"Good thinking," Frederic complimented.

The Ortega came out of the transfer directly over Earth 122. What the warriors saw there froze the blood in their veins. The planet was on the brink of WW III, nuclear weapons had been brought to a stand-by, and were ready to launch. Airplanes had taken of, and armies were ready to fight.

"There must have been something to cause this," Frederic muttered. "What could it be?"

"Maybe you should go down and ask?" Daphnix snickered.

"Funny, D. Very funny," Frederic grunted. "Jenny, are there any temporal disturbances?"

"Not for the moment, love."

"Linda, prepare Daedalus III for launch. I'm going down there. Maybe I can bring them to other ideas," Frederic said, rising from his seat.

"I'll go with you," Both Daphnix and Jennifer said, at the same time.

"No. Daphnix, you're needed to protect the Ortega if something happens. And Jennifer, you're needed here to command the ship if this goes down the drain," Frederic explained, but not before he nodded appreciatively.

 

The Daedalus III left the hangar bay, and set course for the planet. Suddenly, he heard a scream through the radio.

"Temporal disturbance!" Jennifer shouted.

The next moment, the ship was rocked in all directions as it was caught up in the temporal wig. The sensors identified a spherical object in front of the Daedalus in the temporal wig, but Frederic was too preoccupied with keeping the ship together. Panels erupted in flames, and acrid smoke filled the compartment. The controls became sluggish, then failed altogether.

Then, they came out of the temporal wig, and Frederic saw the ground approaching dangerously fast. The computer reacted automatically.

Emergency beam-out.

 

Frank Parker ejected the door of his sphere, and stumbled outside. As usual, the sphere was as good as destroyed, and the condition of his body wasn't much better. He managed to get up to his feet, when he found a man looking around quizzically. Totally naked.

"Who are you?" Parker asked.

"I am… I am… I don't know." The man looked even more puzzled now. "Who am I?" he asked. "I can't remember." He looked at the pod, and then at Frank.

"I wouldn't know, pal. You just showed up here, dressed in your birthday suit."

The man looked at his body, as if noticing the lack of clothing for the first time. "That's not right," he said. Parker almost burst out laughing.

"No, it sure isn't," he said, unsure of what to do. He would worry about this man later; he had a world war to stop. He took out his cell phone, and dialed.

"This is Conundrum. Give me Talmadge, will ya," he said in the phone as soon as it was picked up.

"One moment Conundrum," the operator said, transferring the call.

"This is Talmadge. Go ahead, Frank."

"Sir, two problems," Frank said. "First, WW III is approaching. Two, there's someone here who has seen the time-sphere."

"Is this person a threat?"

"He's totally lost his memory, and he's naked. He seems in excellent condition physically, but I'm not sure about his mental state. He seems highly interested in the sphere."

"That guy's probably some spy. Eliminate him." That was the voice of Nathan Ramsey, the head of security in Never-Never Land, the secret location of Project Back Step.

"Shut up, Ramsey. I'm not going to shoot someone who's harmless."

"Alright Frank. Bring him with you, but keep him blindfolded. I'll send someone to get you. Where are you now?"

Frank looked around. A city loomed in the distance. "I'm not sure where we are," he said.

"Las Vegas. We're 5 kilometers to the north of Las Vegas," the man said.

"We're 5 kilometers to the north of Las Vegas, according to my friend here," Frank said.

"Understood, Frank. The team will be there as soon as possible."

"Don't forget to bring something for our friend here."

"We won't." Talmadge broke the connection.

"Now, tell me, how do you know where we are?"

"That city is Las Vegas. Judging the distance is not that hard." He pointed to the sun. "And she tells me everything I need to know about directions."

"I'll take your word for it," Parker said. He and his mysterious guest waited in silence for the helicopter to arrive. Finally, it did. Frank's long-standing friend, Craig Donovan, was there as usual. The man was helped into the helicopter, and a blanket was thrown around him.

 

Jennifer was shouting in the communications system. To no avail, as there was no trace of Frederic, the Daedalus, or the temporal disturbance.

"What in Hell happened?" she shouted. She had to install her emotion dampers, or she would have lost control altogether. She was practically sick with worry, even with the extra protection in place. She jumped up from the command chair and landed neatly next to the science console. Her fingers started racing.

"Projections show he's in the past. He was probably caught in the temporal wig behind the disturbance, and was pulled into the past with it," Jennifer said, her voice returning to normal, now that she had confirmation that Frederic was possibly still alive.

Daphnix let out a breath of relief oh his own. Even after the violation of trust, Frederic had come through when Daphnix had needed it, the clearest sign to Daphnix that Frederic's loyalty wasn't so easily lost. Now that Frederic had just disappeared from their sensors, Daphnix had felt the worry of not being able to help like Frederic had done in the past for him.

"Begin calculations for a temporal relocation," Jennifer said to Daphnix, ripping him out of his pondering. He nodded, and started typing the second science console. Linda was doing to heavier mathematics while the two Humans did the exploring work.

"The fabric of time has been damaged by the disturbance," Jennifer reported. "It's not recommended to try and land close to it. I'll set us down one day after Fred has touched down."

"Agreed," Daphnix said, not looking up from the console.

 

The helicopter touched down in Never-Never land, and the man was helped out of the helicopter as Frank raced inside. The man was escorted to the medical facility, to be checked out by Dr. Chapel.

"Alright, Frank. What have we got? You said something about World War three," Talmadge, the head of the time travel project known as Back Step, said.

"Some weirdo hacked into the military network, and falsified orders to go on a spy mission over China. They took exception, of course, and threatened to shoot at every American plane or boat to come within 20 kilometers of Chinese territory. The president apologized for the accident, but that didn't stop the weirdo from doing it again. This time, he managed to scramble some B-2's. Nobody knows how he did it, but the orders were 'confirmed' by the White House. The planes were carrying 10-kiloton thermonuclear bombs."

"Aren't B-2's supposed to be invisible to radar?" Olga Vukavich, the Russian scientist, asked. She had defected to the U.S., and was now a valued member of Project Back Step.

"They should be. Something went wrong, of course, and the Chinese opened fire. The orders were for a test flight, so the bombs wouldn't be actually dropped. The fire destroyed the B-2's, and the bombs, causing radiation to leak all over the place. The Chinese insisted that the US were going to bomb them, and they declared war. Not two days later, they started moving their troops. The president had no other choice but to ready for war," Parker said.

"I still can't believe someone could hack our entire security so easily," Ramsey said.

"Believe it, Ramsey. And it's not pretty, I can assure you," Frank said.

"I can believe that." Craig Donovan, the former navy Seal and close friend to Frank, nodded.

"How do we stop him?" Talmadge asked. "If no one knows how he did it, how do we stop it from happening?"

"We inform the president, and have him change the access codes to the nuclear weapons every day. We hope that that will stop him. The first attack is scheduled for tomorrow. We never managed to find how he did it, or what we can do against it." Frank shook his head.

"And how about John Doe in the infirmary? We can't keep him here," Ramsey said.

"Should we be more worried about WW III then some guy with no clothes?" Frank asked. "Besides, he's harmless. He has lost his memory, that's all. We can tell him what we want as soon as he's back to normal."

"I agree with Frank. We have more pressing matters," Talmadge said, adjourning the meeting.

First thing Frank did, was go to the infirmary. Olga followed him, curious to see John Doe for herself. The man was lying on the examination table, dressed in a hospital robe, and smiled as he saw Frank come in.

"Frank! There you are. I was beginning to wonder what happened. What is going on here? This man is doing every test imaginable short of carving me up like a roast," the man said.

"We're trying to find out what caused your memory loss," the doctor said.

"So, John, tell me. Do you remember anything else?" Frank asked, sitting down. Olga sat down as well. The man's eyes lingered on her. "That's Olga," Frank introduced. The man extended his hand.

"It seems my name is John, even though I can't remember," the man said. Olga shook his hand, grinned, and said her name. "Sorry Frank. I still don't remember anything."

"Well, that's all we can do here," the doctor said. "We can only do an MRI, to check his brain."

"You're going to shoot electromagnetic radiation through my skull? No thank you," John said, sitting up. Everyone present looked at him.

"What? Never had someone who doesn't like his delicate neural pathways disturbed by electromagnetic radiation?" he asked, getting up on his feet.

"How do you know that an MRI scan uses electromagnetism? And why are you afraid of it?" the doctor asked.

"I…I don't know. I just do. Something that just popped up in my mind."

"An MRI is harmless, John," Olga said.

"No way am I going to allow that. I'm no lab rat," John said, backing towards the door.

"John, pal. We're not going to do an MRI, ok? Now, let's get you a room until we find out what to do with you," Frank decided. John visibly relaxed, and nodded.

"John, if you don't mind, I would like to do a physical test tomorrow. Let's say, around eight? I want to see your physical condition," the doctor asked. John nodded, and followed Frank out of the room.

 

"He was afraid of an MRI?" Talmadge asked when Olga and Frank told him about the incident in the infirmary.

"He was. And I wouldn't be surprised if it had come to fighting if we had pressed the matter any harder," Frank said. "I recognized the look in his eyes, I saw it plenty of times when in the Seals. He was scanning for weaknesses, getting ready to fight to the death if it came to it."

"Fight to the death over an MRI? Who is this guy?" Talmadge asked.

"I wouldn't know. But I do suggest we have a look to see if we can't find him through fingerprints or something," Frank suggested.

"We'll do that. We'll hold a meeting later, and ask John some questions," Talmadge decided.

 

Some hours later, the fingerprints came up negative. The entire crew was gathered together, augmented by John, who looked around in curiosity. Ramsey had protested vividly against John seeing this part of the facility. He wouldn't see anything classified, so Talmadge had seen no problems in that.

"So, John. Tell me, have you regained any of your memories yet?" Talmadge asked.

"I haven't, sir. But I would like this opportunity to thank you for your hospitality here," John said.

"You're welcome, but we still would like to know if anything new comes out," Talmadge said.

"I understand, sir. You can count on it," John said.

John was led by two security guards back to his room. When he was inside, he went straight to bed, even though it was only six PM. Strange dreams plagues his mind during the night. The following morning, he got up at seven. He dressed himself in the clothes that had been provided for him, and he walked out of his room. As usual, there were two security guards at each side of his door, and he didn't even flinch when they fell in behind him.

He walked to the infirmary, and knocked on the door. He was early for his appointment, but he didn't think the doctor would care much. The door was opened, and the doctor stepped out.

"We're going to do the test in the gym," he said, leading the way. John nodded, and followed the doctor.

 

"You should come see this, Mr. Parker," Olga said, bursting into his room.

"What is it Olga?"

"It's John. I can't explain it, but you should come see this."

Frank rushed alongside Olga to the gym. He opened the door, the find half the staff gathered there, looking at John running on the treadmill. The thing was running at maximum speed, but John didn't seem to have much problems with it. Frank and Olga elbowed their way to the front, to talk to the doctor.

"How long has he been running like this?" Frank asked.

"For the last 20 minutes," the doctor said, flabbergasted.

"What's his heart rate?"

"145 beats per minute. It's as reliable as a clock. Not one beat more or less in the last 3 minutes," the doctor responded.

"Can't this thing go any faster? This is a lame tempo," John asked.

"It can't. 35 kilometers an hour is it's maximum speed," the doctor said.

"Oh well." John shrugged, and pressed the button to elevate the front of the treadmill, simulating an elevation. It stopped at 10% elevation. John's heart rate stayed constant at 155 beats per minute. His breath was slightly ragged, but not overly so.

"That is impossible. No one can run 35 kilometers an hour uphill, and not die of exhaustion," Frank said.

"Apparently, he can. His physical condition is superior to anyone I have ever seen," the doctor said.

"Excuse me, but could you give me those weights?" John asked, pointing to the rack of weights.

"Sure," Frank said, turning to the rack. "Which ones?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Since I have no idea whether or not I've done this before, start with the light ones," John suggested. Frank nodded and took two 8-kilogram weights of the rack. John took them, nodded thanks, and started doing pumping exercises during his running. His heart rate remained a constant 155 beats per minute. After 10 seconds, he gave them back, and asked for two 20-kilograms. After those were given to him, he pumped with those. His heart rate increased to a constant 160.

John began whistling during his exercise after two minutes of running with the weights. His heart rate dropped to 158 beats, apparently getting used to the exercise.

"Incredible! His heart rate drops as he runs for longer periods of time," the doctor said, looking at the test machine.

"This is boring, doc. When can I stop?" John asked.

"Um… you can stop now, if you want," the doctor said. "Nobody will believe this test anyway."

John stopped the treadmill, and gave the weights back to Frank, who put them back on the rack. John stepped off the mill, and looked at the people gathered in the room.

"We can try to test your muscle strength, but something tells me that that one will be off the scale as well," the doctor said.

"I don't remember," John said, and walked to the weight rack. He took the heaviest weights, which happened to be 50-kilogram weights, and started doing complicated maneuvers with them. "But it seems you're right," he added, without a hint of strain in his voice.

"I thought so," the doctor said. "There is something mighty strange about you, but I can't figure out what it is, without an MRI scan."

"Will you stop that already? I am not going to let you shoot electromagnetic radiation through my body," John said, turning to the doctor. "Now, excuse me, I'm going to take a shower." John walked out of the room, followed by the ever-present two security guards.

 

Not an hour later, Frank came to get John. They walked back to the conference room, where the entire group was present.

"Have you regained any memories since we talked yesterday?" Talmadge asked.

"I haven't. But I did have this strange dream, which somehow seems connected to my past. It was all very familiar."

"Go on," Talmadge encouraged.

"First, I saw a sword. The handle was made of gold, resembling a dragon shape. The blade was shining white, a material I didn't recognize. But, the strangest was the eerie green glow surrounding the blade. Then, the weapon faded into nothingness. The next image I saw was of a necklace, gold and gems, like the handle of the sword, and it had the same eerie green glow surrounding it. Then, the necklace faded, to be replaced by the same sword. Well, it looked identical, but somehow I could … feel they were not the same," John said. "Finally, I saw a girl. She was even more familiar to me then the objects I saw first, but I can't remember her name."

"That doesn't help much. Maybe you can draw up a picture of this girl, and we can see if we can find her," Talmadge suggested.

"I would think that is as useless as when you tried to find me… if she is as related to me as my feelings indicate, then she will not exist just as I do," John said, shaking his head, trying to understand.

"We should try every lead we have," Talmadge decided. "Try to draw a picture, or have one of our sketch artists draw one."

John took a blank piece of paper that was laying on the table, and a pen. His hand almost blurred as it raced the paper. All the people present looked in bewilderment, as John's face was displayed total concentration. Five minutes was all he needed before turning in the drawing.

"Handsome girl," Frank said as he looked at the picture.

"She is. I feel very, very close to her. It's very hard to explain how deep it goes." John's face showed the strain of trying to bring his feelings under words.

"Anyway, we'll do our best to find her. Now, have the test this morning brought out anything else besides showing us our scales are useless on you?" Talmadge asked.

"It hasn't. I'm sorry," John said. "Maybe if I were able to go full-out, but the machines are just unable to do that," John said.

"We are in the middle of the desert. As long as you're accompanied by guards, you can run there," Talmadge said.

"Sir, that won't help. No guard we have is capable of keeping up with him. He was running 35 kilometers an hour, up a 10% slope, and his heart rate never exceeded 160!" Frank said.

"How about a car? The guards can stay in the car, and keep up with John," Olga suggested.

"Do it." Talmadge nodded.

Once outside, John did some stretching exercises while the guards were waiting in the jeep, weapons trailed on him. The rules were quite clear. John started of at a jog, with the car moving slowly besides him. The guards were joking: "you're not so fast now, are you? Come on, is that the fast you can do?"

John grinned at them. "Try to keep up," he challenged, and set off. The jeep accelerated to 40 kilometers an hour. The outdoor temperature was high, it was a desert after all, but it didn't seem to stop John.

"You won't hold this, big shot," the guard taunted him. John's face displayed total concentration. Then, a snarl, and John raced forward, to 55 kilometers an hour. The guards were amazed, and decided to keep their big mouths shut. Sweat pearled on John's face, but there were still no new memories. He felt exhilarated, and since his body wasn't overly protesting, he pressed a little harder.

"Speed is now 65 kilometers an hour," the driver reported. "This is impossible! Nobody is able to run that fast, let alone keep it up in this heat!"

John didn't hear them. He jest kept running. For as long as he wanted, he could keep it up, and he knew it. He could feel his body adjusting to the pace, as his breathing and heart rate dropped. For half an hour, he kept up the 65 km an hour. Then, a short sprint to 75, and he started decelerating slowly, to allow his body to adjust to the slower pace. Instinctively, he knew he had to let his body adjust.

 

"You should have seen him, sir. Top speed of 75 kilometers an hour, after running for half an hour at 65. I am sure he didn't even go flat-out," the guards reported to Talmadge. After John had taken his shower, he was led back to the conference room.

"Has the run done you good, John?" Talmadge asked.

"It has, but unfortunately, it has brought forth nothing new," John said.

"The guards reported that you still didn't go flat-out. I was under the impression that that was the objective here."

"I was unable to, sir. When I was running like that, I knew I could go as fast as I wanted, for as long as I wanted, given time. When I allow my body to adjust to the speeds. When I do not, I have a 'top speed' so to say, but it doesn't tire me," John said.

The phone in the conference room started ringing. Talmadge answered it.

"It's the girl form the drawing. She's at the gate, and she has someone with her," Talmadge said, throwing the phone on the hook, and standing up. The entire group proceeded to the gate, where the girl and a boy were waiting. The moment John saw the girl, a name flashed through his mind…Jennifer.

Her face lit up when she saw him, but it darkened immediately after.

"Fred? What's happened?" she asked. Everyone looked around to John, as if to say 'Fred?'

"I…Jennifer," he managed to croak. "Your name is Jennifer."

"Fred? Dear God, no wonder I can't feel you. Open those gates, NOW!" she barked to the guards. They looked at Talmadge. He nodded, and the gates slid open.

"Frederic, look at me," she said. The name jerked something in his mind, and he looked up at her. "This will hurt, but it's the surest way for you to regain your memories," she said.

"I have the feeling I always trusted you. There is no reason for me to doubt that now," he said, looking into her blue eyes. She brought up her finger, and touched his forehead. The next moment, she slammed through the link they shared, breaking through the emergency shields located there. His eyes rolled back, and a hollow howl left his throat as pain ripped through his mind.

It barely lasted 15 seconds, but it felt like an eternity for him. He opened his eyes. "Jenny…" he croaked. She laughed through her tears.

"Yes," she said. "You're alright now. You have no idea what you've put me through." They hugged, the look of intense happiness on their faces almost radiating.

"Now, would you mind explaining this mess?" Talmadge asked to the hugging couple.

"I wouldn't bother, sir. When they're like this, it's pretty hard to get their attention," Daphnix said. "I am Daphnix Smith. She is Jennifer Fromthefield, and he's Frederic Fromthefield. Everything will be explained, as soon as they're done," he said, looking back to his two friends. Then, he noticed something.

"Fred, where are your Swords, and your Necklace?" he asked. The mentioning of the mystical objects brought Frederic out of his love-link with Jennifer. For a moment, he looked dumb at his friend.

"I have no idea. The last I remember was Jennifer shouting that there was a temporal disturbance, the Daedalus getting out of control, and then I woke up with nothing at all. Let's see if they'll answer my call," he said, gently getting up. He raised his arms, and shouted to the skies:

"As Phalanx of the Human, Oech-anya, and Ketari races, I demand that you answer my call, and return to me!" nothing happened. Then, a roar was audible in the distance. At blinding speed, two Swords drilled their way halfway into the ground. The Necklace landed neatly besides the two weapons.

Frederic walked up the weapons, but was stopped by security guards.

"What? You've seen what I was capable of when my superior abilities were locked out due to my memory loss. Do you really want to tangle with me now?" Frederic asked, looking in the guards' eyes, first one guard, then the other. They didn't flinch.

"You're either very brave, or very stupid." Frederic grinned. "Can I pick up my property, or will I have to force the issue?" Frederic asked Talmadge. He nodded, and the guards stepped back. Frederic picked up the two Swords, and then put them down as he remembered something. He walked to Jennifer, and raised her arm. He talked into her communicator.

"Linda, I need a clothing beam. Normal Phalanxial uniform. No weapons present, but include two sheaths."

Stand by.

Frederic disappeared into the transporter, only to reappear dressed in a Phalanxial uniform, the black leather with the gold patch over his heart. He walked to the two Swords, and sheathed them. He then took the Necklace, and hung it around his neck. For a moment, his eyes glowed a ghostly green as his powers reasserted themselves.

It took some explaining before the people in Never-Never land understood what was at stake, and they promised to keep it a secret. They were just talking about some details, when Frederic leaned over, and clutched at his head, as in pain.

Jennifer's face grimaced as well, and then stabilized as a shield slid in place at Frederic's end. She looked at him, worried. She shook his shoulder.

"Fred, let me in. maybe I can help." Her voice was begging for his attention as much as for free access to the link. He didn't seem to hear her. Then, his head flipped up. A pure evil was visible on his face, the eyes bright red.

"No!" it was Frederic's voice, but it sounded more strained than anyone had ever heard it before. "Get out of my mind!" he shouted.

"I won't. This time, you'll have to fight me on my terms!" it was Raglan's voice. It sent shivers down Daphnix's and Jennifer's spines. The battle of wills raged on, until Frederic won, or so it appeared. Only for a moment did they have peace, when a second Frederic appeared. This one changed almost immediately, and revealed Raglan's form once more.

Frederic slowly got up, and raised his right hand, palm facing his dark nemesis. The man was blasted through the wall.

"Linda, emergency transport, me and Raglan, outside. NOW!" Frederic shouted. The two disappeared in the blue shimmer.

"Beam us to their location," Jennifer said in the communicator. Jennifer, Daphnix, and the Back Step people appeared just next to where Frederic and Raglan were fighting it out.

"This time I won't allow you to trick me," Raglan said. He drew the Ketari Sword.

"You know you don't have a chance, Raglan. I have access to the Human, Oech-anya and Ketari powers. You only have the Ketari's. Kneel and get this over with. Fight, and I will kill you anyway. There is no reason to make this harder on yourself," Frederic said, unsheathing his own Ketari Sword.

The two men raced toward each other, the Swords met two times, and they landed on the other's starting position, facing each other. Frederic launched in an Oech-anya sword attack. Raglan blocked, retaliated, and stabbed Frederic through the heart. Only his immortal physiology kept him alive and conscious during the regeneration time.

"That's impossible! That is not a Ketari attack!" Frederic exclaimed.

"You made the fatal mistake of thinking I was the Ketari Nemesis. I am YOUR nemesis, and therefore, I have all the skills and knowledge you have. Now, die!" Raglan shouted, and launched another attack. Frederic managed to block, but barely.

Jennifer and Daphnix cringed, knowing that Frederic's mistake in judgment may cost him his life. But, they both knew that it was forbidden for them to interfere.

Frederic grinned, then whispered: "Secondary personality."

Jennifer grinned evilly as Daphnix looked astonished. Fred can call the Phalanx warrior personality whenever he wanted? The rest of the people just looked on in complete bewilderment, not understand ten percent of what was happening. They knew Fred had to win, but the powers, Swords, and secondary personalities were completely lost on them.

Frederic's eyes darkened, then turned completely black. The green glow around his Sword turned black as well, completely obscuring the blade.

"The time for talk has ended. Come here, so I can kill you." Frederic's voice was cold as ice, matched only by the look on his face. This was in complete opposite to Frederic, who had even given his fallen enemy his Sword back during the fight over the Human powers.

"You want to KILL me?" Raglan looked at Frederic. "What's happened to the Frederic I knew?" 

Frederic didn't respond. He just attacked. Raglan blocked, and retaliated. Both he and Frederic traded blows for a couple of minutes, neither getting the upper hand.

"You just have a big mouth," Raglan taunted.

Frederic's face curled in a frown as he snarled. This time, his movements were ten times faster and stronger than before. The Oech-anya Necklace had joined the fight.

Raglan managed to block, having activated the Necklace himself. He pulled out the Human Sword.

"You know that two Swords are not necessarily better than one," Frederic said. He did pull out the Human Sword, nonetheless. He pushed the two Sword's handles together, and formed the Oech-anya Dual Blade. The Necklace nested itself on the handle.

Raglan attacked, bearing the two Swords. Frederic countered with the Dual Blade, without a hint of trouble. Raglan, on the other hand, seemed to be in more and more trouble as the secondary personality pressed harder and harder, now throwing the Force into the mix. Raglan, not expecting this, fell two seconds behind.

The attack broke off finally, both warriors standing back on their original starting positions, facing each other. Raglan, looking tired, Frederic, bearing a dark grin, but without a hint of fatigue.

Frederic drove the Dual Blade into the ground, and lifted into the air. Raglan mimicked the rising.

"They're going to execute the War Dragon?" Daphnix asked.

"Fred can survive it, he's already proven it. I'm not sure about Raglan, though," Jennifer said.

Both warriors were now on their way down, spinning to create the vacuum vortex around their bodies. Then, the spinning sped up, to ignite it. The two flaming vortexes collided in the exact middle between the starting positions. Frederic appeared almost immediately afterwards, unharmed. Much to his surprise, Raglan did the same.

"This is a stand-off," the secondary personality said. "I wonder how I was once capable of defeating you," he added.

"You got lucky, nerd-boy," Raglan said, enraging Frederic. Over and over, the two warriors clashed. But, the lack of preparation on Frederic's part had handicapped him. The last time, Frederic had been at the peak of his condition. Now, he had just been under severe mental stress, and his body was in less-than-perfect condition as well.

Raglan then remembered something. "This is not a tournament. There are no rules," he said, raising his hand, and blasting Jennifer. Frederic broke out of the secondary personality. The Dual Blade mimicked the red glow in his eyes. He raced towards his fallen love, and gently took her in his arms. Her immortal body was already healing.

"RAGLAN!" Frederic shouted, getting up from the crouch. The look on his face was pure venom. Little sparks of lightning raced along the red eyes, and jumped between his fingers. Raglan then understood something he had failed to understand before. Jennifer was Frederic's strength and his weakness. Only by killing her would he have been able to disrupt Frederic enough. Now he had just enraged him. Frederic was no longer bound to emotionless by the secondary personality, yet he had access to the same data. Frederic was now a warrior fighting with the heart and soul, not only with the mind.

Frederic walked to his position, and knelt to one knee. He dismembered the Dual Blade, and sheathed the Ketari Sword. The Necklace went back around his neck. Then, he started singing. Jennifer was now fully regenerated, and the song sent shivers down her spine. She was probably the only one who knew what it was, and when it was at its strong point. It was the Oech-anya war song, transferring a warrior's abilities over to the abilities themselves, fighting only with the subconscious.

Frederic's blood boiled, and his heart pounded along with the raging rhythm of the song as he faded from his kneeling position, and then disappeared.

The next moment, Frederic was at Raglan's throat with his Sword. Raglan barely had time to jump out of the way. Fear was now clearly visible on his face. To the contrary of the secondary personality, who intimidated by silence, Frederic intimidated with the song. The only difference was the fact that the song quadrupled his strength, speed and coherence.

Frederic let out another howl, and launched towards Raglan's back. Again, Raglan jumped just in time, but now he had a cut along his back and his side. Louder and louder, faster and faster the song raged over the battlefield. Frederic's conscious mind was an onlooker as his subconscious and his abilities fought on their own terms. He liked it that way, and it allowed him just to focus on his objective: the destruction of Raglan.

Raglan didn't even have time to raise his Sword to block Frederic's attacks. All he could do was hope his luck would stay. It wasn't. The next moment, Frederic's Sword came out of Raglan's chest. He looked in bewilderment at the point sticking out of his ribcage, and then sunk through his knees. The weapon didn't allow Raglan to heal, so Frederic left it there. He took his Ketari Sword, raised it, and chopped off Raglan's head with one fell swoop.

The body disappeared upon impact of the head on the ground. The Human Sword clattered on the concrete floor. Frederic sheathed both Swords, and allowed himself to calm down. The final couplet of the song calmed his heart, and allowed him to come out of the war trance. The red glow faded from his eyes. Frederic looked around, and spotted Jennifer. He smiled when he saw she was all right.

He walked slowly towards her, his walk evolving into a run. She proceeded towards him as well, and soon she was running too. They jumped the last meter or so, and met in mid-air. Their minds found each other as their feet met the ground. Their head tilted, and their lips met. The next moment, Daphnix saw something he had never seen before, and he both intrigued and scared by it. Their lips and head separated, and looked at the skies at the same time.

They cried out, letting go of pent-up emotions. Their mental powers took physical shape. Two energy dragons formed over their heads, and launched upwards, an elongated energy body trailing the dragonheads. They then pulled over, flying away from each other in a straight line. After there was about 100 meters of distance between them, the energy dragons both did a 180° turn, and roared directly toward each other. They collided in a blinding flash of pure energy, making Daphnix and everyone else, put a hand over their eyes for protection. And even then, the blinding flash came through their hands and closed eyelids.

Daphnix looked up when the flash had died out. He found Jennifer now supporting Frederic, and letting him gently towards the ground.

"Fred? Are you okay, love?" Jennifer asked, hugging him.

"I am. Just exhausted," he grunted, and rested against her warm body. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop him from harming you… it was the second time I wasn't able to keep my fights to myself." His body was shaking in suppressed sobs.

"We got out of it alive on both occasions, love. When two people are linked so intimately as we are, accidents like these are bound to happen," she said, stroking his hair.

"You're too good to me, honey," he said, his arms, almost powerless now, gripped her torso. She just laughed, shook her head, and closed her eyes. Daphnix couldn't see Frederic's, but he was sure he had his closed as well. It was in times like these that they sought the comfort of the other's mind. Daphnix didn't even want to think about what would happen if one of them died.

It took some more talking, by Daphnix, before the back Step crew understood what had happened. Frederic and Jennifer had retreated back to the Ortega, allowing them both the comfort they so desperately needed.

The next day, Frederic woke up with the blue eyes of his wife staring directly at him. He smiled at her, saying:

"Good morning, love."

"Good morning," she said. After a hug, they slid out of bed, and got dressed. After they both got ready, they walked to the bridge, where they found Daphnix, staring at one of the screens.

"Good morning, D. What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost." Frederic grinned while walking over to his friend. He stood at Daphnix's right, and looked over his shoulder. Jennifer did the same over his left.

"Good morning, you two," Daphnix said, continuing to stare at the screen. "Take a look," He raised his head, allowing them both to see what was there. Both Frederic and Jennifer stared at the screen for seconds that seemed to last for hours.

"Someone hacked the U.S. military?" Frederic asked. "There are not many who can do that, AND get away with it."

"And you're one of them," Jennifer said. "You're one of the few who can do that with the limited equipment of the normals."

Frederic just nodded. "I hope the me on this planet hasn't made a wrong decision, and it's someone else who's causing this mayhem. Oh shit." Something caught Frederic's attention. "The bastard launched a spy mission over China."

"Shit," Jennifer and Daphnix grunted, virtually at the same time.

"We need to get back down there. That's the reason why Frank was sent back in time, and we have to help him," Frederic said, looking at his companions. They nodded, and Daphnix got up from the chair. They called for the mobile emitter, and activated it. They then asked the now lifeless computer to beam them down to Never-Never land.

Talmadge was almost losing it. Changing the codes was useless, and the spy mission had been launched. Attempting to revoke the order had proven too late, as there was a radio blackout. He was looking over the projections, to see if there was something more that could be done, when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He stared directly at the three warriors, and the hologram.

"What are you doing here?" Talmadge asked, more on edge than he had like to sound. "And who is she?"

"We're here because someone hacked the U.S. military network, and we're here to stop it. Please call a meeting. We need all the information you have of the future," Frederic said. "The woman is Linda, our Artificial Life-form."

Talmadge nodded, and pressed the button of the intercom. He called for the members of project Back Step, and had them gather in one of the conference rooms. He then got up, and showed the three warriors where the room was.

Frederick, Jennifer and Daphnix were conversing telepathically when the rest of the members came in. Frederic had also created a direct link into Linda's mobile emitter, and so she could join in as well. Talmadge just motioned for the team members to sit down, while the three warriors continued their conversation. When everyone was there, Talmadge found the guts to disturb the four people.

Frederic looked up form the telepathically induced stupor when he heard Talmadge. "Ah, everyone's here. Good thank you all for coming." Jennifer and Daphnix looked up as well, as did Linda.

"As everyone knows, we're in possession of technology far superior to yours. Linda is the prime example. She is an artificial Life form," Frederic began. He saw Ramsey looking mad at this remark. He decided to ignore it. "We're monitoring the computer activity on every planet we visit, as a standard precaution. It seems that in this case, it was justified. Someone has hacked the U.S. military computer network, and ordered a spy mission over China. Now, I know this will lead to WW III, and I also know that is the reason why Frank was sent back in time. Now, I need all the information you have on this matter, if I am to be successful at stopping this from happening."

"And what makes you think we will give you access to classified information?" Ramsey asked.

Frederic gave him a glare. "Because we will have no other choice but to get it from your computers and your minds by brute force. The entire Human race is at stake, and I will not hesitate to use force on a few dozen people to save it," he said, voice old as ice. He didn't like bullying people, or threatening them, but this case was an exception. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

"I see your point. We'll give you the information. Frank?" Talmadge asked. Frank nodded, and gave the same speech he had given two days before. Frederic listened in rapt attention. After the speech came a torrent of questions by all three warriors.

"Very well. With the information we have so far, there are only a handful of people capable of pulling a stunt like this," Frederic said. "Unfortunately, if one of them decides to pull this off, there is no way to find him or her."

"Her?" you think a woman is capable of this?" Frank asked.

"The computer business is not sexist, Mr. Parker. Yes, there is a woman capable of this stunt. On my world, she was my mentor. She taught me everything I know of hacking into computers, and not being caught at it," Frederic said. "Now, I need access to a computer before I can find out who did it," he said.

And why don't you use one of your computers?" Talmadge asked.

"Our computers get in through super-codes. We would have complete access, without having to cross through all the pathways the hacker would use to get in. In order to find out who did this, we need to examine those pathways, to see what was left behind," Frederic explained. Talmadge nodded.

"What do you need?" he asked.

"A computer with a telephone line. Preferably, a fast computer and a fast modem."

"You can use the one in my office," Talmadge said, and led the team back to his office.

"This will take some time. The spy mission is too far gone to be halted, but I will be able to get in before the nuclear mission is launched, in exactly 23 hours and 15 minutes," Frederic said, sitting down and beginning to type. Streams of letters and numbers raced over the screen.

Talmadge nodded, and everyone left. Only Frank remained behind, to stare at the screen, along with Jennifer, Daphnix, and Linda.

"It's not David Duvreaux," Frederic suddenly said. "David uses a triple by-pass. That leaves only Carla, Gregory, Timothy...or me." Frank looked in surprise.

"You?"

"The Fred on this planet. Now, please be quiet," Jennifer said, casting a glance at Frank. He nodded, and continued staring at the screen.

"It's not Greg either. There is no trace of a secured handle-directory. There is no way the egomaniac would have gotten in without leaving his handle," Frederic grunted. "I always told him he was nuts leaving his handle like that, but so far no-one has caught him...yet." His fingers continued typing. Somewhere along the line, Frank had gone as well, probably to tell the rest of the progress. Frederic called for programs regularly. Linda downloaded them immediately into the computer.

Suddenly, he let out a cry of happiness. "It's not Carla," He sighed. "That leaves only Tim...or me."

"How would you do it?" Jennifer asked.

"Without a trace. If I can't find Tim's signature, then we have the perpetrator," Frederic said. "Only 15 hours remaining. We'll have to hurry if we want to catch him in time."

He continued the search, and stumbled upon a small file. Immediately, the rattle of keys halted. Jennifer, Daphnix and Linda stared at the file. They say nothing out of the ordinary.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Impossible," Frederic said. "That alias never made it into existence," he almost shouted.

"WD.TXT?" Jennifer asked?

"WD means WarDragon, an alias I was beginning to establish when the Gods selected me. It was supposed to be the replacement of the Black Dragon in the Dragon council. If this system was hacked by WarDragon..."

"That means YOU did it?" Jennifer asked. Frederic only nodded. Tears streamed down his cheeks. "It appears that this is what I would have become if the Gods hadn't selected me."

"Yes, but you didn't. If the you on this planet did it, that has nothing to do with you. Now, we have to stop him before he starts WW III," Jennifer said. Frederic nodded.

"Get me Talmadge in here. Tell him...tell him to arrest Robert Macintosh."

"Macintosh?" Daphnix asked.

"If WarDragon made it into existence, then he has switched to the secondary name as well. Tell him to look in Belgium. The secondary location," he explained.

Daphnix nodded, and ran outside, to get the show on the road. Jennifer remained behind, and wrapped her arms around Frederic, who was now in major emotional trouble. After a few minutes, he finally found the strength to beam up to the Ortega, along with his wife. Linda remained behind, and set out to help with the apprehension of Fred...Robert Macintosh.